Cape Argus News

Why the Western Cape leads in school retention rates

Genevieve Serra|Published

The Western Cape Education Department reports a record high in learner retention rates, highlighting the importance of support systems in education.

Image: Armand Hough /Independent Newspapers

The Western Cape has achieved the highest retention rate in the country, meaning more learners are staying in school and completing Matric.

According to the data shared by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), the retention rate from Grade 10 in 2023 stood at 94,234 learners, and 70.0% of them wrote their NSC exams in 2025.

The national retention number was 62.8%, meaning more than sixty per cent of Grade 10 learners from the class of 2023 wrote their Matric exams last year.

This is according to the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), who said it was unable to provide credible data and analysis for dropouts due to pregnancy, home-schooling, or relocation to another province.

Bronagh Hammond, Director of Communications for the WCED, explained that various reasons and factors could lead to a learner leaving the school system. “The Western Cape Education Department cannot provide credible analysis for the dropout rate as some learners ‘drop out’ of the system due to pregnancy,” she said.

“Societal issues or health, other learners may leave a school for a variety of reasons, including relocation to another province or country, further study at an FET college, home-schooling options, or private institutions. These learners cannot be deemed as a ‘drop out’ from the education system.

“Therefore, the WCED does not actively track or report on learner 'dropouts' as there are multiple reasons which are not necessarily deemed as ‘dropping out’ of the schooling system.” Hammond added the upper hand was that the department was able to monitor the throughput rate/retention rate from Grade 10 - 12. “It will take into account some of the reasons as cited above, but ultimately from Grade 10 - 12, we can monitor their progress in the system and whether they register and write their final exam.

“In this regard, we have the highest learner retention rate in the country. This means more learners in the Western Cape are staying in school and completing Grade 12, and having the opportunity to write their examinations, which is a true indicator of the system's strength and equity.” She said the WCED Safe Schools Fieldworkers are responsible for addressing truancy through home visits. These usually occur if a learner is:

  • Absent from school for more than 7 days (the school needed to do their own intervention after 3 days);
  • Frequently absent from school;
  • Prone to habitual or chronic truancy; and/or
  • At risk of playing truant or dropping out of school.

“While the WCED has a role to play in addressing truancy, we also ask that parents help us reduce truancy by instilling order and discipline in their homes,” she added.

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